"It is his athleticism and movements": James Franklin gets real about Drew Allar's improvements heading into 2025

James Franklin will enter his 12th season Penn State's coach with hopes of retaining the momentum they've had in the last three seasons. He has had 10+ win seasons and earned a spot in the New Year Six Bowl matchup three years in a row.

A big part of the credit goes to the quarterback, Drew Allar, who has been consistent with his performance. Franklin spilled the beans on what changed for the passer since last season.

He said Allar has significantly improved on his fitness and skill set this offseason. Allar also shed almost 10 pounds, which has helped him become more agile. Franklin added that the game has changed drastically.

The quarterbacks are no longer sticking to the pocket and are forced to make plays deep into the opponent's territory.

“It's his athleticism and movements," Franklin said on Wednesday (01:00), via "The Herd with Colin Cowherd." "He's six foot five. He was 242 pounds. He's now about 232 pounds. I think the game of football has changed. The old days of the pro style quarterback that's just going to stay in there and sling it around that that doesn't exist anymore.

“So a guy that's going to be able to get one or two first downs a game doesn't have to be a lever. I'm not saying that, but he'll be able to threaten people with his feet, his movements, his ability to extend plays."

Franklin praised Allar while sharing what he and his staff plan to do with the wide receivers.

"He's always been a great decision maker in terms of touchdown to interception ratio," Franklin said. "And then what we had to do is we had to go out and get a few more wide outs, continue to develop the ones we had guys are going to make more consistent plays for him on the outside.”

James Franklin acknowledges rising prowess of Big Ten over SEC

In the last two years, with the power shift due to conference realignment, Tony Petitti brought in some of the leading programs in the country. As a result, the Big Ten has outshined every other league in college football. The last two national championships justify this notion.

Out of 18 teams, almost 10 of them stand out as some of the most dominant programs in the country.

James Franklin sees Penn State maintaining the ongoing momentum of winning titles and lifting the golden trophy in 2025.